


heart of glass.

by yae



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Death, F/F, Spoilers, Tragic Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-08-10 10:24:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20133928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yae/pseuds/yae
Summary: with my heart made of ice, it was melted by you.then like glass, you shattered it.—————[ post- ] heavensward. unity tries to come to terms with losing her everything, despite it haunting her.





	1. the past.

She stared down at the beaten and tattered woman, her eyebrows furrowing upward and a smile of pity appearing on her face.

"Oh, is it not heavy, my lady? The crushing weight of a fake goddess who will not answer your prayers, though you have heeded hers. You believe and for what...?"

Unity got onto one knee, offering her hand to Lady Iceheart. The woman in question looked up at her before gritting her teeth and shaking her head angrily.

"A blind fool, like the rest of them... Your thirst for blood and war has no end." She looked away, standing up on her own. "Do not squander Mother's gift. May you seek out the Keeper of the Lake... and find yourself enlightened."

—

Unity leaned against the tree, her eyes shut tight.

_Hear... Feel... Think..._

Where... was Hydaelyn?

"Here you are."

The sudden voice snapped Unity out of her concentration. She looked over her shoulder to see Ysayle slowly stepping closer to her. Unity only looked down in silence as the woman continued to speak.

"_That_ man has finally decided to attend to his own matters. A fool he is. I really am not about to let the lot of you be taken by the dravanians. Alphinaud is still fast asleep... as he was when you first left camp to come here. What are you doing?"

Unity remained silent, though not willfully. Ysayle tilted her head before nodding lightly.

"I see."

With those two words, Ysayle sat herself next to Unity. There was continued silence for several moments before Ysayle finally spoke up again.

"I am unsure how to say this... I apologize for how you and myself last left off. Circumstances as they are... I see now you are not what I thought you were. For that I am... well... I am grateful. That is to say that... we share the same goal. In a sense. As Midgardsormr said. Hmm..." She trailed off, her cheeks a bit red. Ysayle refused to look at the other woman and show her full embarrassment. "I am... quite unsure of how to speak in a more... relaxed setting. That is... I am also naturally quiet."

She huffed and further turned her head away until she heard light laughter. Only barely there, breathed out with joy. Ysayle finally looked at Unity, her eyes wide as she watched the woman laugh at her attempt to socialize. She wanted to be annoyed, angry even, yet... She was captivated. The smile that went with those icy white eyes was something she had only ever seen described in books. She cleared her throat as a darker blush made its way onto her face.

"D-Do not laugh! Am I of your amusement?! How so?!"

Unity placed her hand on Ysayle's shoulder as she calmed, yet her smile remained. It only grew wider as she stared into Ysayle's eyes. With her actions, Ysayle understood with ease.

_'I understand. I forgive you.'_

—

There was still silence. No matter how much Unity begged, her Mother ignored her pleas. What she preached to Ysayle was coming true for herself. Her life in its entirety had been for Hydaelyn and now she refused to answer? Refused to fight Midgardsormr's tampering in order to speak with her beloved Child? It was all too much. Her anger, her fury. Her pain. She did not know what to do, for in moments such as these, she would turn to the Mother. Yet Hydaelyn had turned her back on Unity. This rage she felt... How it would rear its ugly head.

Despite feeling lost in regards to Hydaelyn, it hurt more to see Ysayle become absolutely ruined. Unity was broken; Ysayle was shattered. The woman's wide eyes as Hraesvelgr scoffed at her fake faith. That the Shiva she created was not real, never had been, never would be. Ysayle was deluded in a daydream that she thought was reality. Watching Ysayle leave after the dragon's harsh words... Unity glared up at Hraesvelgr, her hands tightening into fists. Hraesvelgr merely closed his eyes and lightly shook his head.

_[ Taketh thine rage elsewhere, child of man. I hath lifted the veil from the foolish girl’s eyes. ‘Twas nothing more than a deluded dream she liveth within. ]_

That was enough. Perhaps she could not find solace in Hydaelyn, but she could provide such succor to Ysayle in her most trying moment. It did not take long to find the weeping, wailing woman. Mourning the loss of her life's faith, not so dissimilar to Unity herself. Seeing her collapsed, hands covering her face and trying so desperately to shut out the world... The tears could only well up in Unity's eyes.

"Leave me! I care not to be mocked by... by..." Ysayle saw Unity through her fingers yet quickly turned away. "Leave... please... Oh, you were right, as is Hraesvelgr... A fool living a fool's dream..."

Unity's breath caught in her throat and she sobbed, collapsing next to Ysayle and pulling her into a tight embrace. Ysayle quickly returned the hold, clinging onto Unity as though she were a lifeline. For what Ysayle had left, she certainly was one. It was in that moment, the pain overtook her and she groaned, gasping as she was granted a vision. A vision of Unity being cut off from Hydaelyn. How she pleaded day and night throughout their travels for her to come back and speak, to no avail. The building sadness and anger slowly overtaking Unity. Ysayle could see it all. As quickly as the vision came, it left, and Ysayle pulled away from Unity. Their teary eyes met and Ysayle could now understand the pain behind her eyes. The blue eyes she had once seen now replaced with the colorless nothingness of white.

"I... I understand now, Unity... I've seen it... Oh, your silence... Your silence..." She continued to weep, holding Unity once more. "Believed only to be abandoned... I feel your sympathy for me, Unity. Just as much, I give you mine... I am so sorry..."

—

The silence suited Ysayle just fine.

Noise, all around her. The ice shattering, the airship malfunctioning.

No, it was the silence in her mind that she took pleasure in. How she was finally free of her regret, her failures. That this moment of hers could, even if only just a little, help Unity.

The lives she had taken. The lives she had ruined.

It would all fix up in time, so long as she gave everything she could to Unity. Perhaps her beliefs had been fake. Her deluded daydream. But she still had power, the power to change and turn the tide. Ysayle would miss Unity. Their time had been short, but she had learned. Experienced. Grown. So much and more. All because of that woman.

Ysayle placed her hands over her heart, smiling with absolute happiness.

"Yes... Perhaps my faith had been fake. A lie. Even still... I am so happy to have followed it. It led me to you... Unity. To this moment. Our paths _are_ the same. For this reason... you will do what I cannot."

The woman reached her hand out to the _Enterprise._

"Speak, Unity. Let your voice touch each and every one of their hearts... Just like you did for me."


	2. the present.

Unity was supposed to be a woman of the future. Ever bearing the word of her Mother. Helping to spread the light in even the darkest of places. Yet...

She lived in the past. The Mother was silent. Her heart was shrouded in darkness.

She always would remember their first meeting. Then... their last.

Even now, she found it difficult to live on. Yes, she was alive, but to actually _live_? She sat on the edge of her bed, resting her forehead on her folded hands. She had nothing, no one, to exist for anymore.

Hydaelyn had forsaken her.

The woman who shared her dream was gone.

Unable to spread her original life's work, yet also unable to see this changed world with _her_.

By all means, she was happy with what she had done. But what was it for? It was without purpose. Just like she was. Nothing to keep her going except the will of others. Oh, to be named Unity yet have no uniting to speak of... Her name was a cruel joke to her own conscious now. Hydaelyn meant nothing to her now that she was silent, and that she had taken the life of the woman she loved.

Yet... despite her grief... She knew Ysayle would not tolerate her behavior. Always, always more to be done. More peace to be brought, more lives to be saved. She had to keep going, for it was what Ysayle would have wanted. Ysayle would have wanted to touch the whole world, even if she had to spawn her inner primal to do it. But Unity had no inner primal. She had nothing to her name. It was Hydaelyn that had been her strength. Now she was gone. Thus the cycle continues, always coming back to two points, always echoing in her mind.

Hydaelyn had abandoned her; she would not be returning.

Ysayle had given her life for her; she would not be returning.

She was all alone. That was okay though, so she thought. It was okay she was all alone. All she had to do was keep going, even if she wasn't there to _live_ it. It would be easy. It was easy.

To save. To protect.

To _kill._


	3. the future.

Hraesvelgr sat from his perch, looking out to the sunset. Though peace had taken the lands once more, he could sense there was more to be done. Many more battles to fight. He looked down at the woman approaching him.

_[ What sayeth thee, child? Thee can also feeleth the unsettlement of the breeze... ]_

“I can... It will be a struggle to fight, whatever is coming.”

_[ ...Indeed. Doth thou still insist upon following _her_? ]_

“Of course. I will go where she leads me. My strength, even in spirit, is hers to have.”

The great dragon looked back out to the sun, only a sliver of it remaining as the light turned to darkness. He narrowed his eyes once he and the girl were enveloped in the shadows. The two were silent for some time until Hraesvelgr finally spoke up.

_[ I fear she shalt be going beyond thine reach... What will thee do then, Ysayle? ]_

The woman remained quiet, her eyes shut and the breeze fluttering her hair. When she finally opened them, she turned and looked at the dragon.

“Even should she disappear to where I cannot reach her... She knows I am with her. I always will be. Likewise, I know she will return here, back to us.”

Her icy white lips curled into a smile as she stared up at the dragon. Hraesvelgr returned her gaze before heaving a great sigh. One could swear he, too, was grinning.

_[ How thee still hope and believe... Thine wrought out and silly ‘faith’, how it hath yet to lead thee astray. ]_

Ysayle hummed lightly, a chuckle slipping out.

“I hold steadfast, Hraesvelgr. For tomorrow and tomorrow.”


End file.
